Thank you will NEVER be enough! #fb Today our family spent the day similar to as we have on many Memorial Days past. We went INTO Manhattan! That may sound odd because unless you live here you dont know how empty the city is as much of it has emptied and dispersed itself to the Hamptons, or down the shore. It is an easy time to walk into an eatery and not need a reservation--as we did with Route 66 Barbecue on Stone street. Feet from there we happened upon the NYC Vietnam Memorial. Not nearly as big as the one in DC, it bears the names of NYC Vietnam Vets that did not come home. On the plaza a gathering of obvious Vietnam Vets shared a pizza lunch, no doubt ordered from a local pie place. There was a randomness about their demeanor together--as though some had never met--and yet there was a brotherhood that was also unmistakable. As we regressed from the edge of the park I said to my bride, Its so sad how they were so unappreciated! And thats true, the anti-war leftist zealot hippie coalition spit on these men as they returned. They labeled them baby-killers and people like John Kerry went before Congress and LIED about them. They may have been abandoned by their nation, but they had not abandoned each other, over foldable pieces of pie with sauce and cheese. My heart beat quicker just being near them today. Almost directly opposite of the Vietnam Memorial on the east side over on the west side of the Island we ran across the East Coast Navy Memorial. These large slabs of names detailed all 4601 American military men (mostly Navy) who perished in the Atlantic Ocean in World War II. As I perused them with my family in tow, I couldnt help but notice the children playing hide and seek around their bases, and the long lines of water bound tourists for the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Clipper Ships, or Staten Island ferries that were seemingly oblivious to their presence. Yes the freedom we exercise in every cookout on Memorial Day each year was in part secured by the names on these two memorials. And suddenly I was reminded how the efforts of my entire life seemed oh so very small. Because by comparison--they are. Our nation is not what it should be at present. But it should not progress further on our watch. And it only took the names of ten thousand heroes to remind me of that today. Nope... Thank You! Will never be enough. But for now I will offer it anyway, and a pledge to wake up tomorrow and do my part... Would that we all! m.youtube/watch?v=7a8mTcw1nag
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 20:57:18 +0000
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